Depression is a disease that is mysterious. It can happen for different reasons, and people can experience it depending on their situation. Some people experience depression because of medical illness. Others may have experienced it due to life changing events, and some simply have it because it’s genetic. Depression is felt like something that gives you an unexplainable sadness. You don’t usually know the reason why you are feeling sad. You simply do and sometimes it makes you nuts for feeling so.

What causes depression?

The following are some factors being considered on what causes depression.

1. Abuse – People who have suffered an abuse of any kind can, later on, experience depression in later life. It may be emotional, physical, sexual or mental abuse.2. Medications – Not all medications can be good for your health. Drugs that are used to handle high blood pressure such as beta blockers can increase the risk of depression.3. Conflict – Because of conflict and other personal disputes, it is possible to feel depression.4. Death or loss – Depression may also occur from someone who experienced loss of someone that they love. Even though it is something that is inevitable. It can increase the risk of depression.5. Genetics – Some people are feeling depress because of their family history. It is believed that depression can be passed from one generation from another.6. Major events – Life changing events that are out from the usual can be depressing. Some of these are graduation, retiring, getting married and even getting a new job. It may sound odd, but it does happen.7. Other personal problems – Being ousted from a group or being ill and separated from society may cost depression.8. Illness – Because of certain illnesses depression may co-exists with it.9. Substance abuse – People who are experiencing substance abuse problems may also have major clinical depression.

Because of trauma, grief, anxiety and other difficulties in life depression can be triggered. However, if you feel depress and none of these apply then that would be harder.

Knowing what causes depression may be hard. However, here are few things to consider to consider so you can find out the reason for your depression.

5% of the American population is suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It is sometimes mistaken as winter blues.

SAD usually appears on 1% of the population during summer and on warm weather Alfred Lewy MD, a professor in Oregon Health and Science University, Portland says that depression arises due to “delay adjusting to new seasons.”

During this time the body has a hard time adjusting due to imbalances in brain chemistry and the hormone melatonin. Another factor can be because of deprivation from sleep. Aside from being irritable it also increases the risk of depression.

From a study conducted in 2006, Matthew Edlund, MD, the director of Centre for Circadian Medicine, Sarasota, Fla. And the author of “The Power of Rest” concluded that people who are deprived of sleep had greater activity in their brain after viewing upsetting images than those who got more sleep.

And so I quote, “If you don’t sleep, you don’t have time to replenish [brain cells], the brain stops functioning well, and one of the many factors that could lead to is depression,” says Matthew Edlund, MD.

Another consideration can be the usage of drugs. For some people, drugs can lead to depression. An example of medicines that causes depression is barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and beta-blockers. It may be more evident to older people. On the other hand, medications like corticosteroids, opioids (codeine, morphine), and anticholinergics used as painkillers is found out to cause mania which can be associated with bipolar disorder.